A Monster's Questions
by No.311
Summary: When Jimmy, a boy with frequent nightmares, finds out he is a monster after being killed and reforming. He decides to search for answers. Who was his father? What causes his nightmares? Who is this famous Percy Jackson? Which side should he take? Will he find answers? Set after HoO and Percy is dead (read to find out why). Jimmy is an OC.
1. Trip to Tartarus

**Hi, no.311 here, with a new story! I just had this idea. That's why I wrote this chapter. Writing from my phone is a pain, but I still did it. Now I'm back, I will continue infiltration again, so if you want me to continue this before infiltration ends, review. Constructive criticism and ideas are appriciated, no insults. Blame my phone for mistakes in spelling. This chapter is in third person.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO, only my OC's.**

"It's been a while since I last saw you here, hasn't it?"

The man looked up. Before him stood an old lady. He looked a bit confused, and the woman doubted that he remembered her. He tried to think what to say, but he was still a little shaken, so it took a few seconds. Then he answered her.

"Yes, last year I suppose. But it's nice to see you again."

The old lady was surprised that he remembered, but she was happy. They had been friends for a while, and she could see that he recovered.  
Last year had been horrible for him. So horrible that he didn't remember him at all.

The man's hair was wet from the rain, and his clothes sticked to his body.

"Why don't we go and drink something at my house, for old time's sake."

The man nodded and stood up. They walked through the city, one narrow lane after another. The woman was thinking while she walked.

She had first met him at the same place they just were. Her son had died at sea, and the funeral had been a week earlier. When she reached the destination of her small walk through the city, her son's tombstone, she was suprised to see a complete stranger already sitting there. They had greeted eachother, and she, polite as she was, had invited the man for a drink. They talked quite some time before the man revealed himself as her son's "dead" grandfather from her husband's side. Of course she was angry at him at first. Her husband had told her everything about the gids, but she thought that he had been a lousy grandfather, god or not. But the anger subsided when he told her the things he had done for him. He had even gone undercover for a while on her son's ship. But he ultimately failed to save him. He regretted it, even though he hadn't been able to do more, due to the Ancient Laws. Since then they had built up a friendship. That was many years ago. They would meet at the graveyard, and she would always invite him to drink something with her. He would always tell story's. Until last year. When she saw him again after six years, he was not the same. She knew something was troubling him. But she decided not to ask. She had enough experience to know when not asking was better then asking.

She out of her thoughts when they arrived at their destination. The woman beckoning him inside, for old time's sake.

* * *

_The man stood on the hill. He knew that he wouldn't return, and he felt a pang of sadness in his heart._

Jimmy shot up, sitting up straight in his bed. He experienced it a lot lately. The doctor said it was nothing major, but he had it easy. He didn't see what he saw. It had started on his fifth birthday. Why? He didn't know. But he didn't like it. He was almost sixteen now and the nightmares were still there. He went to several docters, who all said something else. But other than having nightmares, there was nothing wrong with him. Yes, he did have ADHD, but it was easy to keep in check with pills. But the nightmares...

Jimmy sighed, he heard his dad calling from below. His mother was dead. Shot by some crazy person with a gun. But he had gotten over it. Breakfast was cereals with milk. For some reason, he always chuckled when looking at it. He ate quietly and fast. Today school again. Woohoo, he thought dryly. He didn't like school much. He was an oddball. Sometimes it seemed like he was the only person with a feel for what was right and what was wrong. But for some reason, he knew that it was going to be a lot worse today.

He slipped of his chair and took his bag. He told his father he was of to school and walked off to school, not really looking forward to the rest of the day. But he didn't know this would be his last day in school for a while.

Two pairs of eyes were watching him, confusion clearly visible on their face. They followed him as he went to school. But they were whispering at each other the whole time, and if their faces were visible at the time, it would be visible that they didn't get it. But they were strictly disciplined and trained, and of they had orders, they would follow them. So they continued the plan.

Still oblivious to the danger, Jimmy entered the school. It was a school with little money, which was visible from the building and the learning methods. The average student there wasn't very bright and the teachers didn't even try to pretend they liked it there. Jimmy didn't either. He had asked his dad several times why he had to go to this school, but his dad never answered. He sighed and sat down on his usual spot in the classroom. The teacher came in, busy talking in his phone. Behind him was a girl he didn't know. She sat down on the only empty spot left in the room, which happened to be the spot next to him. She was pretty, but for some reason the blonde looked at him strangely with her grey eyes. He gulped and looked away.

"Good morning. Take out your textbooks and start with reading."  
The teacher took his tablet and continued with watching a movie on YouTube. The new girl didn't believe her eyes. But Jimmy knew that it was impossible for the teacher to get the students' attention for longer than five minutes. The teacher knew that too and had given up a long time ago. It was the same in almost every other class.

While many of the other students started talking happily, Jimmy took his textbook about Ancient Greek History and Myths out of his bag. For some reason, his father only cared for his AGHaM knowledge, and he would check him about it often. Not that he minded. He liked the subject. Today, he was studying about Sparta. It was pretty interesting. Amongst other things, it told him that for Spartan boys, who were trained in the army, things like stealing were honourable, as long as they didn't get caught. Or that the women were expected to look after themselves.

After a while, when he had read a lot about AGHaM, he decided that it was enough for one day. Then it happened. He suddenly felt dizzy.  
It was one of these "flashbacks" again.

_Suddenly, the tar began to move. It almost got one of his friends, but he was faster and stabbed it with his sword. But it didn't work._

He really hated the flashbacks. They were the same as the nightmares, only shorter and random. Luckily he had no outward signs that he had them, so nobody was bothered.

He was suprised when he looked at the new girl, she was studying too.  
Well, at least I'm not the only one anymore, he thought.

"What are you reading about?" He asked her.

"Nothing special, why?" she stared at him weirdly. He was very uncomfortable.

"Just interested."

"Suppose I could tell you then." She had nice perfume, that's for sure, he thought.

"Ancient Greek Architecture."

"Interesting." On her face, a slight hint of surprise was visible.  
Then she went on reading.

He tried not to think much of the way she abruptly cut off the conversation. But for some reason, she looked familiar.

A bell signaled the beginning of the lunch break. He got his sandwiches out of his bag, and started munching happily. He loved chocolate sprinkles. After he had eaten his bread, he went outside, something he did every lunch break. He was surprised to see that there were two persons outside. Normally, he was the only one. He walked over to them, and when he got closer, he saw that it was the new girl, who was talking with another girl, who he had never seen before. She had black hair, and sparks seemed to come from her eyes. Giving in to his curiosity, he listened to their conversation.

"...found him yet, but I think I know who it is."  
"Any sign of monsters?"  
"Unfortunately, yes. So we must act fast. But I don't think this is just your average monster."  
"Damn it, and I even thought this would be easy."

Jimmy didn't understand what they were talking about, so he took his book and started reading again when he had found a nice quiet spot.  
He didn't even bother to go back inside when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break. It was way more peaceful here then it was in the classroom. He had been reading for an hour or two after lunchbreak, when the door burst open, and the new girl ran out. The other girl was with her, and surprisingly a guy he recognized from another class too.  
The girls flinched when they saw him. One took out a... Pair of daggers?! They had daggers?! Weapons were completely tolerated in the US, and he knew that, but he didn't get why people would prefer daggers instead of guns. But there were more urgent problems. She was pointing the daggers at him.

"What..." Was all he managed to say before the girl had her dagger against his throat.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't send _you_" she spat the word out as if it was an insult "to Tartarus."

"I... How... What...?"

"You heard me!"  
She pushed the dagger a little bit into his throat.

"I don't get it... I don't..."

At that moment, pain exploded in his stomach, and when he looked down he became very pale. A spear stuck out of his abdomen, blood oozing put of the wound. But the blood was black. Suddenly, he felt like he lost a grip on his existence, as he watched his legs disintegrate.

"This one is too dangerous for reasoning." The black-haired girl said. Then Jimmy's vision went gold.

When he woke up, he was lying on a bed, but when he tried to sit up, he was pushed down by a hand. He rubbed his eyes and opened them.  
He was in a small room, with a torch as it's only light source. It was pitch black outside. Before him was a woman. She looked at him in a loving way, and with a shock he realised that he was looking at his mother.

"Mom..."  
"Don't worry, my child, everything will be okay."  
"Were is this place?"  
"It's in Tartarus."

Jimmy racked his brain. The girl had also said that name. But he had heard of it before. Then he realised.

"Oh..."  
"But don't worry. You will return to the world above in a few hours."  
"And you? Will you return?"  
"Eventually, yes. But until then, I will have to remain here. Now come, I have much to explain to you."

Jimmy got of his bed, but he almost got a heart attack. Instead of his usual feet, there was a single snake's tail. He noticed that had one too.

"Let's start at the beginning. I am actually Lamia. Sorry if I kept it secret, but I wanted you to have a normal childhood as much as possible."

Jimmy remembered the myth. They had read it together, and now he could explain why his mother looked so sad then.

His mother started explaining how she had met his father, that the father who raised him was not his real father (it was a lot for him to process. He had never known), but a storm spirit and her friend, and that she wanted him to live a normal childhood. When he'd asked why he had to attend his horrible school, she had explained that she had known the principal for a long time, and that the principal kept an eye on him most of the time. But he was still a principal, so he had to go to an important meeting for a week. The only thing she wouldn't answer was how she was actually killed.

"But who was my real dad then?"  
"I did ask him, but he didn't want to tell me. He did tell me, however, that he was not an Olympian god. However, he was very powerful."

After that they talked about monsters in general. He learned that, when a monster died, they would end up here. After a while they would reform on earth. How long depended on the cause if death and the monster. He also learned about gods and demigods, titans and primordials, camp Half-Blood and New Rome.

Jimmy was also relieved to find out that his mother had stopped eating children a long time ago. He learned that he now had a tail with poisonous barbs, and fangs with venom. He learned that normal people saw him as a human, because of the mist, but if he wanted demigods and others to see him as a human, he had to disguise himself magically with an illusion. He had further control over seduction and illusion, and the mist.

After the explanation, he decided to ask his mother the one question that really bugged him.  
"Do you know about what causes my nightmares?"  
"I'm sorry, but no, I don't. Nightmares aren't a good sign, so watch out, they can be caused by something."

Jimmy was really happy to see his mother again after all those years, but he had things to do in the world above, and when a soft glow enveloped him, signaling his resurrection, he embraced his mother one last time and she told him to take care of himself. Then he lost his grip on his existence again, losing himself in gold.

When he woke up he was in his old classroom again, but nobody took notice. He knew it was because of the mist, but he still found it freaky, because his tail was lying on his desk, and nobody realised he had one. He had quite some fun for a while, toying and pranking his classmates with it, but eventually he started thinking of how to start his search for answers.

He decided that when school was over, he would go and search for the blonde girl. He didn't really think that she had the answers, and that it was dangerous, but she was his only lead. But how? While he pondered on the idea, the bell rang, signaling the end of school. Jimmy got off his seat and went home, to see his 'father' once more before departing.

**The end. You liked it? I will continue this eventually, but first I will finish infiltration, except if enough people want me to do this first. So it will take some time before I'll update.**

**No.311**


	2. Trip to Camp

**And now, chapter 2 of A Monster's Questions, brought to you by No.311, from his mobile, while on vacation.**  
**Dedicated to Jake the Drake, for reviewing, Annechase for favoriting and following and That'70sfan for following. Thank you very much!**

**Disclaimer: If I did own PJO or HoO, then I wouldn't be writing this and posting it on fanfiction.**

**Any mistakes in grammar are to be blamed on my phone and it's wondrous digital keyboard.**

* * *

After Jimmy had gone home one last time, to say goodbye to the man who raised him and to pack his stuff, he was all set to go. He figured that he would search for the girl in Camp Half-Blood first, because he was pretty sure that the girl was a demigod, and she seemed more Greek than Roman. He had a feeling that she knew something, and hoped that, even if she didn't, she could still help him convince other demigods that he wasn't a threat. After all, he didn't fancy being skewered every time he met demigods.

There was only one problem: he didn't know where the camp was. His mother hadn't known either, she had never been there. So he had to find someone who knew. He decided to travel around for a while while searching.

He smelled the air for demigods. He, as any monster, was able to smell demigods that were near. Sadly he couldn't smell any, so he applied the disguise-illusion and slithered off in a random direction to start his search.

* * *

After a while he became hungry, so he went to the nearest snackbar and ordered a menu. He munched on his burger while listening to his iPod. When he finished his burger he began with his fries. But it wasn't until he began with his shake that something happened.

A group of three people came in, hurrying to find a place to sit. The place was not full, but it was small, so the only place left was near Jimmy. One of the three kept glancing warily at Jimmy. 'Score!' Jimmy thought. For what other reason would anybody be wary of him? He shifted closer to the edge of his seat and listened to their conversation, just to be sure.

"So the Greek gods are real. Really? That's the most stupid thing I've heard since she told me of that woman that had two snake tails."  
Thunder rumbled in the distance.  
"It's not a joke, I'm dead serious!" The wary guy was on edge.  
"Look, I'll show you." Jimmy couldn't see what happened next, but he heard hooves. The eyes of the others turned wide. "You see?" The satyr said. The others only nodded. Then he explained some things about Greek mythology to the others.

* * *

"We are kids of a god, who really exist, and because of that, we will attract monsters?"  
"Exactly, and that's why you have to go to camp."  
"Okay, we'll go."  
Jimmy stood up, and went to them, still sipping his shake. Immediately the satyr tensed.  
"We have to go, fast." He told the other two hurriedly.  
"No, wait, I wanna ask you something!" Jimmy said.  
"How to kill us best?" The boy said.  
"No, I want to know the way to the camp." Meanwhile the satyr was handing the demigods weapons. Jimmy got a bit nervous.  
"So you and your monsterfriends can attack it, huh?"  
"No, to find someone."  
"To kill her, isn't it?"  
"No, of course not!"  
"Suuuure. And next you're going to tell us that's a perfectly normal shake?"  
"Actually, it is. Chocolate-flavor."  
"Let's taste then." But before Jimmy could say anything, the boy got smacked by the girl.  
"Are you an idiot? Maybe it's poisonous.  
"Speaking of normal, how come you look normal? From what I smell, you're definitely a monster." The satyr asked.  
"Illusion." Jimmy undid the illusion.  
"What kind of monster are you? I've never seen you before."  
"Lamia's son."  
He looked at Jimmy sceptically.  
"Last time I checked, Lamia had no sons. How old are you really?"  
"Sixteen, over a few days." Jimmy had never seen a more sceptical look on someone's face.  
"How do we know we can trust you?"  
"I have no intention to kill, eat or hurt anyone. Really, I don't."  
"We'll bring you to camp, but you have to give me your eyeballs on the way."  
"But I don't even know if I can take them out! I can close my eyes just fine!"  
"Lamia can, so you are probably able to do it too."  
When he tried, he was astonished that they actually came out.  
The girl winced. "Man, that's disgusting."

* * *

The journey was dark and short. For Jimmy anyways. He almost had to barf when they arrived. Damn Gray Sisters.

The boy and the girl were twins, Thomas and Kate. Thomas and the satyr hadn't wanted to give their names, but Kate gave them. The satyr was called Root. Jimmy thought it was a stupid name, but he kept quiet about it. He had told Kate some things about himself, and Kate told him some stories too.

When they neared the camp's borders, he got his eyeballs back.  
"You will stay here while I go talk to Chiron." The satyr walked away.  
So Jimmy waited. And waited some more. After a while he saw two kids running towards the border, with a small legion of monsters behind them. One of the kids looked dark, had a dark sword, and dark hair. The other looked like he had just awoken in a nightmare. He was small, with brown hair. Jimmy tapped in his illusion power to project a wall before the monsters. The kids didn't even notice it, and the dark kid got the brown kid safely over the border. Then he turned around, and confusion appeared on his face. The monsters where stopped by an invisible wall. The dark kid shrugged, drew his sword and proceeded by killing monsters. Jimmy tried to help him a bit by making some more illusions, but he stopped when the illusion of a glass prison accidentally hit the boy. He looked around, saw Jimmy, and glared at him in a way that sent shivers down his spine. Jimmy quickly dispelled all his illusions. When the dark kid was finished with the monsters, he turned to glare at him. Right at that moment, the satyr, Root, came back.  
"Chiron has agreed to let you in the camp, so I hereby give you permission to pass through the border." They went through the border and left the confused dark kid behind.

* * *

Jimmy followed Root to the big house, where a man in a wheelchair was waiting for them.  
"Hello, young one. I'm Chiron. I suppose you're Lamia's son?" He gestured to the tail.  
Jimmy tried to answer, but was cut off by Root.  
"Yes, he is"  
"And what brought you here...?"  
"Jimmy. I was se-"  
"He found us at a snackbar, said he wanted to go to Camp. I made the decision to-"  
"I can answer perfectly fine, you know."  
"But you're a monster, so-"  
"Now, now, Root. There are plenty of good monsters too. Take Tyson for example. He has proven himself to be a great asset for Poseidon's army."  
"But that was a cyclops! This is the son of Lamia, an ancient and dangerous monster! How ca-"  
Chiron was definitely losing his cool.  
"Root. You know as well as I do, that this child means no harm. He let you take his eyes in free will, to get here, and he hasn't tried to hurt anyone since he got here. Not to mention that this is Lamia's son, not Lamia herself. He deserves a chance."  
Root was silent after that.  
"Now, Jimmy, what brought you here."  
And Jimmy told them about what happened in the last few days, his nightmares, dying because of a misunderstanding, meeting his mother, finding out some things from his mother, reforming, and his search. He told Chiron he wanted to at least settle things with camp half-blood, so that he could search without getting attacked by every demigod he met.  
After he was finished, Chiron nodded in thought. "It's not unheard of, such an agreement. But I must warn you. Many demigods have suffered at the hands of monsters. They will not hesitate to try to set other demigods up against you. Even if the demigods won't be allowed to attack you, you have to be careful. Travelling with your disguise-illusion may be necessary. And almost every demigod will be wary of you. Take Root for example. There will also be demigods who will try to provoke you or test you because they don't trust you."  
Jimmy nodded.  
"Come, Jimmy. I will introduce you to Annabeth, our camp leader. We will introduce you to the others at the campfire."  
Chiron magically grew from his wheelchair into the centaur he was. Jimmy was amazed, but not that much. After all, he had a tail, slit eyes and fangs. Chiron led him to the arena and told him to wait a bit. After a minute or so he came back with the familiar blonde girl. They shared a look of recognition.  
"What are you doing here?" Annabeth stuttered.  
"Have you met before?"  
Jimmy was happy that he found her and uncomfortable at the same time.  
"Yeah... You can say that." He said.  
Chiron was no fool, and he decided not to press the matter.  
"Well, Annabeth, Jimmy is here to get into an agreement with camp half-blood against attacking eachother, so he can fully focus on his search, and not on hostile demigods."  
"Ah... Okay."  
"If you see it fit, you may give him a tour of the camp. I will leave now for you to settle things."  
Chiron left.

* * *

Silence. They stood there for a while, tension almost visible, in silence.  
Annabeth was the first one to say something.  
"Is it... True?"  
"...what?"  
"That you only recently found out that you're a monster?"  
"Yeah, I found out after you... You know."  
"Oh."  
Silence again.  
"...And?" Jimmy asked.  
"And what?"  
"The tour?"  
"Oh, of course." Annabeth led him to an oval of cabins.  
Jimmy slithered along. "Uh, Jimmy, maybe it's best to hide your tail now."  
"Oh, Sorry." Jimmy quickly switched the disguise-illusion on.  
"These are the cabins where the demigods live. They are ranked by god. Over there is Zeus cabin..." She pointed to a large, stone cabin "Hera..." She pointed to the cabin next to Zeus' cabin. Jimmy guessed from the way she said 'Hera' that she didn't like her much.  
"Poseidon..." Her voice cracked. "Hades... Athena... Ares... Aphrodite... Apollo..." She pointed out every cabin, in random order, and told him some things about minor gods. Jimmy found some cabins rather interesting. He didn't see green fire every day. Annabeth carried on with the tour. "Over there is the arena, the climbing wall, and the stables. Archery is trained here, and chariot races are held over there. The forge, the armory and the dining pavilion are there. We also have a lake, and a forest, where our oracle lives." Jimmy made a mental note to get himself at least one weapon before he left. _

The two had been walking around for a while, when Jimmy asked the question that had been bugging him for a while. "Have we met before?"  
Annabeth didn't see that one coming. "What? We have, remember, at your school."  
"No, before that."  
"No, not that I know of. Why?"  
"Just asking."  
"Ah."  
"Is that lava on the climbing wall?"  
"Yes."  
"Ah."

* * *

His nose exploded from the now sickly sweet smell. When he was with only a small amount of half-bloods, it smelled nice. In the camp, where a gigantic amount of half-bloods was spread over a distance of a few miles, it was bearable. In the dining pavillion, where all the half-bloods were at the time, it was killing him. But he endured.

Chiron clopped his hoof on the table, announcing the announcements. He also gestured Jimmy to come over.  
"Campers! Today, we have a guest."  
Muttering ensued. Chiron clopped his hoof. "Jimmy here, is Lamia's son." Jimmy undid the illusion. Some campers, who mostly consisted of Athena and Ares campers, booed.  
Jimmy figured it was because the Athena cabin was probably the only cabin that bothered reading those myths, and the Ares cabin because, well, he was a monster. Chiron continued after the pavilion was silent again. "He has come here to make peace between the camp and himself. Any questions?"

"Didn't Lamia eat kids?"

Chiron nodded at Jimmy to answer.  
"I don't, and Lamia doesn't eat kids anymore."  
Chiron looked around and saw there were no other questions.  
"Any objections?"  
If there were any, they didn't say them.  
"Okay, then it's settled."  
Jimmy went to sit at the table were Chiron's wheelchair stood. He belonged to none of the cabins, so he guessed he had to sit here. He looked for Annabeth, but he spotted her at the Athena table.

Chiron didn't have too much announcements, so he joined Jimmy not much later.  
The food was served, and he wanted to dig in, when Chiron stopped him.  
"It's a custom here to offer some food to the gods."  
"Oh, sorry. Where can I do that?"  
"See that fire over there? You have to scrape some food in there to offer some to the gods." He pointed to a place where a lot of kids where already queueing. Jimmy nodded and made his way to the fire. Many people tensed and he got a few glares, but they didn't bother him much. He couldn't make them trust him after all. He scraped some food in the fire, and went back again. "Hey, Chiron?"  
"Yes?"  
"How can I get something to drink?"  
"Your goblet fills itself with wathever drink you want, you just have to think it."  
"Cool." And suddenly it was filled with chocolate shake.  
"And another thing..."  
"Yes?"  
"Can I please eat somewhere else? My nose is killing me."  
"Of course. If you want, you can join us at the campfire later, if there aren't any problems."  
"Okay, thanks."

* * *

Luckily the arena was bigger then the dining pavilion, and there was a fire, so the smell wasn't unbearable any more. Jimmy went to sit next to Kate. The fire was the weirdest fire he'd ever seen. It was high and really colourful. It's size and shape changed according to the mood, Kate told him. She heard it from someone else.

"Before we begin, I have... something to say." It was Annabeth. Her voice quivered. "Tonight, one year ago, was the day our lord Hades saw Percy's shade for the last time until he dissapeared." The fire immediately became small and a dark blue. "I would like some time in silence please, to pay our respect to Olympus greatest hero." Annabeth went to her seat quietly and a little bit shaking.

It was silent for a long time. Even the weather and the woods were. Then a brave soul tried to uplift the spirits of the campers again with a song. It was one of those silly camp songs, but after a while, everyone joined in, to get their thoughts off the depressing subject, except for Annabeth, the dark-haired kid Jimmy met earlier, and some other older campers, but nobody blamed them. The rest tried to just enjoy the campfire, although the sadness still lingered in the colour of the fire for the rest of the night.

* * *

**And that's all for this time. Writing from my phone makes editing a lot more difficult, so I'll update this chapter with proper linebreaks and bold for the AN when I'm home and hopefully have my laptop back.**  
**Tips are highly appriciated. Writing from the phone also means losing the bigger view of the chapter, so if there are plotholes or questions, let me know. If you liked it, please review. I'll post the next chapter when I can't continue Infiltration (like vacations or laptop checkups) or when I've finished Infiltration.**  
**See you then,**

**No.311**


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